Pocono Mtn. board member proposes tax decrease in budget

Taxpayers in the Pocono Mountain School District could see a two mill decrease for the 2014-15 year after discussion on a preliminary budget Wednesday night.

The board heard a presentation on the preliminary budget, which will not be finalized for several months after state and federal dollars are allocated. It proposed a balanced budget, with no tax increases, of about $205 million.

But board member Ricky Smith suggested an alternative, taking two mills out of an allocated roughly four mills that was budgeted to be put in a reserve. The revised proposal will likely return for consideration at one of the board's February board meetings.

CFO Joseph Colozza said after the meeting that the reserve money is a kind of "rainy day" fund to allow for unexpected expenditures, which is less necessary given that the school has a roughly $17 million fund balance for the first time in several years.

He said the preliminary budget also calls for an increase in infrastructure expenditures that have been put off during more cash-strapped years, including for the purchase of several buses, which lessens the need for a reserve.

The proposal also did not call for any staff reductions.

To balance the budget, the proposal takes about $4 million from the fund balance for capital improvements and employer retirement contribution increases.

Smith said contributions to retirement contributions will be going up in coming years pending a change by the state legislature, so using the fund balance will not be sustainable eventually. But he said the move is "prudent" for now.

Tom Brogan, president of the teachers' union, said he hoped the budget process will proceed more "smoothly and calmly" than it did last year.

Leigh Stelzer, who lost a race for a seat on the board but often calls for tax cuts at meetings, praised the board for the possible two mill decrease.

"There's no question in my mind that you have achieved a lot," he said, given the situation over the past few years.

But Stelzer said he has continuing concern about the high foreclosure rates and would like to see another mill or two decrease. Still, the reductions are a selling point for industry looking to invest locally.